to rest at least some but not all questions surrounding her health. >> this is the most recognize woman, perhaps in the world right now. the palace has to assume if she goes out in public, she will be photographed and that means speculation from all corners of the world and internet will fill the information void. back to you. >> always. that does it for us today. thanks for being here. see you back here tomorrow, same time, same place. you can catch our show online around the clock on youtube and other platforms. for now, i am ana carrera, reporting from new york. josé diaz-balart picks up our coverage right now. ♪ ♪ good morning. it's 11:00 a.m., eastern, and 8:00 a.m. pacific. we begin this busy hour with developments surrounding donald trump. today is the deadline for

trump's legal team to submit a brief to the court that will hear arguments about whether or not trump should be immune from prosecution for acts he made while in office. trump's former lawyer, michael cohen, stormy daniels, and karen mcdougal will be allowed to testify. garrett haake, what are the restrictions on what the witnesses could say? >> you won't hear stormy daniels talk about a lie detector test that she took that proves her version of the trump issue is true, and you will not see the

"access hollywood" tape, and those are some restrictions in the case, and the judge's ruling is a win for prosecutors that will have most if not all of the narrative lines they want to pursue as fair game when the trial gets started. >> trump's legal team said yesterday he has been unable to get the $460 million bond in the civil fraud case in new york. what is going on there? >> the billionaire trump does not have $464 million in cash laying around, and he's looking for somebody to provide it as bond. they approached some 30 different concerns, if you will, to try and get the bond and have been unable to get it. the guarantors won't accept real estate as collateral on the deal, and they are running up against the deadline of monday in having that bond secured. donald trump has been posting on

day on this on social media. you see the frustration about the judge, where he calls it a ridiculous fine and did nothing wrong, and his rights are being taken away from him by having to put the money up before the appeal is heard, and no word from the judge on the emergency stay that trump's attorneys asked for on this matter of bond. >> so dave, we just saw kind of glossed over the first two cases. there's a third one, of course, and fourth as well, but the judge over seeing the classified documents case ordered trump and special counsel jack smith to submit proposed jury instructions and jury forms. what do you make of that? >> josé, my head is spinning because she's asking for jury instructions on a case that will

not be heard before the election, and so what is the rush? these jury instructions are favorable to donald trump, essentially, you have two choices, heads, donald trump wins, and tails, you lose. jack smith will have to go to the court of appeals and try and get the whole thing changed until judge cannon will do it herself. this could lead to jack smith pushing the red button to try and get her disqualified for the case. for a lot of people, it has been a long time coming. >> why is that so unusual, and, as you say, kind of focused on a trump win? >> well, it's because judge cannon, in her hypotheticals, gave trump special powers to designate personal documents as his own, and even if it's classified documents.

so whatever donald trump thinks is personal, he gets the discretion to keep, even though that's not how the presidential records act works or any of this works. she's misinterpreting the law. for jack smith to get her recused from the case, it takes a high burden. you have to show that she's biassed and it's rare for an appellant court to remove a judge from the case, but every time you see the rulings and delays that she builds into the case, you have to believe she's getting closer to that line. >> let's go to another case in georgia. trump's legal team started to maneuvering after fani willis was kept on the case. what are they trying to do there? >> donald trump wants to delay that case, and it's going to be delayed past the election anyways. he thinks maybe there's a chance to get her disqualified and that would kill the case and it would get reassigned to the same

prosecutor that may not share the same zeal as fani willis. it's something called an interlock tory appeal, and it means you could take the appeal right away instead of waiting until the trial is over. donald trump likes to appeal everything possible, because the longer he can delay things the better his chances of never being put on trial in any of these matters. >> garrett, meanwhile there are reports the former trump campaign manager, paul manafort, may be coming back. why is he a controversial figure? >> he could be coming back to a campaign role or managing the republican convention for donald trump, which is his political specialty. manafort was briefly donald trump's campaign manager in 2016

before he was fired from that role and investigated from robert mueller, and he is known as somebody passing along internal trump campaign information to somebody that is believed to be an asset, and for the folks who remember the mueller investigation, and there was the russia, russia, russia, period of the administration, and certainly being vetted in some capacity to be back. it's not surprising, another trump associate that spent time in prison, roger stone, also back in the trump orbit. he was at mar-a-lago on super tuesday. it's a pattern for donald trump to bring folks back at some point in his long political career. >> thank you both so very much. now to capitol hill where

congress appears closer to avoiding a partial government shutdown over the weekend. congressional leaders struck a tentative deal last night to fund the homeland security department, which would pave the way for lawmakers to process the remaining package. with us now, capitol hill's jake sherman, founder of punchbowl news and an msnbc contributor. yesterday at this hour we spoke with senator kunes. >> there's a shutdown and then a shutdown, and there's two things to consider. yes, they have a deal on funding the department of homeland

security through september 30th, and that's important because a deal is better than no deal. but they don't have text for this deal, and it's a weird kirk here on capitol hill, and they come to the agreement and they have to draft the bills and make sure the legislative language lives up to the deal they cut. that's difficult and time consuming. there's an outside chance they could get that text tonight and if they get that tonight they could vote on it on friday, and there's a 72-hour standard, not a rule, but a standard where you give people 72 hours to review it. that's number one. and they don't get it out, that will kick the vote out until saturday, and that will mean the senate will have to pass it. it won't be the real shutdown, not like the office management of budget will shutdown if it's in the works. this is just going to be the

bill being processed on its way, a long march to joe biden's desk. >> oh, josh. jake, thanks for that clarification of sorts, right? let's talk about tiktok. senators are scheduled to get a classified meeting on that today, and they could ban the app, and where does that bill stand in the senate? >> the bill in the senate is being considered. let's say it that way. chuck schumer has shown no real urgency to put that bill on the floor, and they will have a number of classified briefings for aides and lawmakers this week, and then they are going to have to see where they net out. mark warner, the chair of the intelligence committee is for the house bill. maria cantwell is not for it.

this could stretch out a little bit in the senate. >> jake sherman, thank you so much. always great seeing you. appreciate it. up next, it's primary day in five states, and steve kornacki is here to break down one senate race and it's implications. and secretary blinken is set to head back to the middle east this week, and why abortions in the u.s. has reached the highest level in more than ten years, in the year after roe was overturned. we are back in 60 seconds. you are watching "josé diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. a. and irregular heartbeat could mean something more serious, called attr-cm a rare, underdiagnosed disease that worsens over time. sound like you? call your cardiologist and ask about attr-cm.

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determines who controls congress next year. joining us now, vaughn hillyard, live from maricopa county, arizona, and nbc news correspondent, darsha burns in palm beach, florida. at the big board, steve kornacki. vaughn, you are in your hometown of phoenix. what are some of the issues driving voters to the ballot box? >> reporter: today is an odd day, and we already know donald trump and joe biden are going to be the respective nominees, and that's the only thing on the ballot here in arizona, and i already know from family and friends here in the state that casts their ballot a month ago when nikki haley was still in the race, and we will be able to 15 information from the results in a state where trump lost to joe biden by 11,000 votes. you said it, the issues here at the heart of the electorates

focus, we know there's conversation around the democracy. we saw people like kari lake, she was a key election denier as well, and alongside donald trump she's running for the u.s. senate this year here, and the economy is front and center. you have immigration. again, that immigration conversation is very layered. of course, not only the actual number of migrants coming into the state of arizona but also the care and the role they play in the economy and society here in the greater phoenix area, the greater area around tucson. those are the conversations undoubtedly will be at the forefront of not only the white house race but also the senate race. joe biden, josé, is also going to be making his way, president biden, too, the phoenix area here tonight. he will hold an event tomorrow. the chips act is a focal point for the administration's policy

successes where intel is opening up a major plant and employing thousands here in the state, so we should expect to hear about that. >> and darsha, you are in florida. there's enthusiasm for trump, but what are you watching for? >> reporter: today there are not a whole lot of down ballots that have implications here in florida, and it's really the civic duty, people practicing ahead of november, and it's a test of how big of a lock the former president has on the republican party here in florida. in 2016 he beat rubio here in a landslide, and in 2020 when he was an incumbent in the primary, he got 93% of the vote in the republican primary. that's the magic number we are looking at today. at the end of the day, is he

going to come away with around that or more than that which will show absolute dominance and the way he remade the gop in his image, and just how much folks are falling in line, or, perhaps, josé, we will see the trump resistance heard today. we have seen for both biden and trump in the primaries voters sending messages, whether it's voting uncommitted or voting for a candidate no longer in the race. that's what we are watching for. voters are still showing up today despite the two top of the ticket picks already locked in. democrats don't have a primary today, and so it's republican voices showing up for the local elections and showing up to show how much their enthusiasm for trump really is. >> and steve in ohio, what are

you watching for? >> the republican primary in ohio, and folks believe this is bernie marino and dolan separated himself from frank larose heading into today's pry mary. marino was endorsed by donald trump, and matt dolan is backed by the republican governor, by rob portman, the former republican senator. dolan had run in 2022, and that race, if you will recall, donald trump also endorsed a dolan opponent that year, and it was was j.d. vance, and now the significance of this ohio race and who emerges as the nominee is this, if the democrats are going to have any chance of

hanging on to the u.s. senate this november, this is a must-win state. by itself it will not hold the majority, but they cannot afford to lose it. they are saying marino is the weakest one, so they have spent money trying to help mareno win that seat today. they are blue if they are currently held by democrats or red if they are held by republicans. these are the numbers. right now the republicans have a 51-49 edge in the u.s. senate. ohio, a blue state when it comes to the race, and it's a red state in presidential elections. trump carried ohio twice by eight points. so sherrod brown, to win the election in november, brown is going to need to get trump voters to vote for him in the

senate race, to split that ticket. again, if democrats do that in ohio, here's the problem for them. they still need to do it in another red state, because joe manchin is retiring in west virginia, and that state voted for donald trump by more than 40 points, and democrats gave up there already. and that drops the democratic number to 50. then there's john tester, and his margin was 16 points back in 2020. democrats will need to hold two of the three, ohio, just on paper by the numbers is clearly the ripest path for them, but in montana, they need tester to win and he would need a large number of trump voters in montana to go to the senate race and vote for the democrat, and if democrats can pull that off in two states and hold everything else they have, that could keep them at 50, and if biden gets re-elected, a 50/50 tie is broken for democrats.

that's how tough the path is for them to keep the senate. >> thank you all so very much. we are following breaking news. at this moment, former trump white house aide, peter navarro, arrived at the prison to start his four month sentence. >> peter navarro was convicted of two counts in contempt to turnover documents as well as testify for the january 6th committee. what happened here and what makes this case different from other individuals who were called to testify but did not testify is that navarro blew off the committee altogether claiming executive privilege, while other individuals including chief of staff, mark meadows, had their lawyers talk to the committee, and navarro

said he could write about what happened and talk about all of his efforts publicly to overturn the presidential election, but he wouldn't testify before the january 6th committee. ultimately a jury convicted him here in d.c., and now he's going to be reporting just down the street from where he's at now, and he's at a parking lot in a strip mall in miami, and he will be going up the street to report and serve four months ultimately in federal prison. he's going through a number of the arguments now that he made time and time again, but he did bring his case all the way to the supreme court and justice john roberts just yesterday issued an order shooting down the last-minute plea to bail on his sentence that is supposed to be starting shortly. he has until 2:00 p.m., so less than three hours to report, and expected to probably get there a little early after he goes

through the spiel here with the media in the strip mall parking lot. >> thank you. we will hear about the catastrophic hunger in gaza. back at home, they call themselves the goon squad. today the first of six former law enforcement officials will be sentenced for torturing two black men in mississippi last year. you are watching "josé diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. h? letting her imagination run wild even though she has allergies. yeah. [stomach growling] it's nothing... sounds like something. ♪when you have nausea, heartburn, indigestion♪ ♪upset stomach, diarrhea♪ pepto bismol coats and soothes for fast relief when you need it most. (man) excuse me, would you mind taking a picture of us? (tony) oh, no problem. (man) thanks.oothes (tony) yes, problem. you need verizon. get the new iphone 15 pro with tons of storage. so you can take all the pics! (vo) trade-in any iphone in any condition

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senator coons. secretary of state antony blinken is headed back to the middle east tomorrow, his sixth visit to the region since the october 7th attacks in israel. he addressed a new report detailing the catastrophic level of hunger in gaza. >> 100% of the population in gaza is at severe levels of acute food insecurity. that's the first time an entire population has been so classified. >> meanwhile, with israel saying it will move forward with its planned invasion of rafah, netanyahu agreed to send officials to the u.s. after speaking with president biden. biden said he still needs a coherent strategy. >> the president told the prime minister again today we share the goal of defeating hamas, but we just believe you need a coherent and sustainable

strategy to make that happen. >> joining us now, nbc's raf sanchez from tel aviv. what is netanyahu saying about all this today? >> reporter: well, josé, benjamin netanyahu is defiant. putting that in context here, you heard that sound from jake sullivan a moment ago, and now previously it had been saying maybe there's a way for israel to launch a ground operation in rafah if it can move the 1 million civilians to safety beforehand. yesterday in that call president biden telling prime minister benjamin netanyahu the u.s. does not support an attack on rafah, period, and it believes israel can complete its goal of destroying hamas without launching a full scale ground operation. it says there are potential alternatives, and targeted raids

aimed at hamas leaders or aimed at rescuing hostages. so basically he said there's no alternative to goinging in on the ground in rafah. he said that's the only way to destroy the remaining four hamas battalions hiding in the city. josé, you have the president of the united states and the prime minister of israel basically on a diplomatic collision course. netanyahu is going to send a delegation to hear out president biden, and then in terms of potential off-ramps here. the only thing i can see square

this circle, the two very different positions, is that if there's a breakthrough in the cease-fire talks in qatar. netanyahu said he's prepared to delay an attack if there was a break through that could lead to a deal to release the hostages. >> thank you so much. up next, what we are expecting when the fed opens up on its critical march meeting today. sentencing is under way right now for two of the six former officers that admitted torturing two black men last year. you're watching "josé diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. a.

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33 past the hour. the supreme court is extending its temporarily hold. justice alito issued an order. the law known as sb-4 allows state and local police to arrest migrants crossing over. the state will continue to build a wall and erect razor wire barriers to stop asylum seekers.

today the federal reserve will begin its two-day meeting to decide what to do about interest rates. dom chu is with us this morning. it's a critical meeting because i guess the fed could lower the rates, keep them the same or could they raise them again? >> that's the big question right now. but right now interest rates futures market are pricing in a near certainty that the fed does nothing, that things remain unchanged. what is interesting about that is it was not that long ago, maybe a few months back the same markets were pricing in what could be six interest rate cuts this year, with the first one starting in march, this month. more specifically, it's the inflation data. over the last couple of months, it's showing the pace of price increases remains basically stubbornly sticky and stubbornly

higher, and the jobs market continues to remain pretty resilient in terms of the jobs themselves and the wages that go along with them. a new cnbc survey on the fed out earlier this morning shows the economists are predicting the u.s. will avoid the recession and pull off the soft landing for the economy, and now economists see three interest rate cuts in the balance of 2024. you compare that with futures markets that priced in six cuts, again, just a handful of months ago, josé, and that's why the meeting will be critical, as is the message that the fed chair powell delivers tomorrow afternoon. >> thank you so much. appreciate it. right now two former mississippi law enforcement officers are being sentenced after pleading guilty to federal charges in connection with torturing two black men in

january of last year. these two officers along with four others were charged in the racist assaults, and they entered a home and assaulted the two men. one of the victims was shot in the mouth. >> this is an unbelievable heinous case. really, it involves brutal crimes against the two victims, jenkins and eddy parkins. five former deputies and a former police officer went to this home that night and they proceeded to torture these men with no evidence of a crime having been committed, no warrant, as you mentioned. they used food and a sex toy. one was even shot in the mouth, and that was michael jenkins. to this day he still has not fully healed from this. after torturing the men for

hours and then forcing them to shower to remove evidence, they planted evidence on them, and it took work for them to be believed. now these men are facing serious, serious federal charges and they could be behind bars for a long time, there's concern and pain that this may be a lot deeper than this one incident, but not just the one case here but a broader culture in that county. >> how much time are these former officers facing? >> they are looking at decades, likely, 20 or so years here, josé. the first person to be sentenced will be the officer that shot jenkins in the mouth. he's facing some of the most serious charges here. they are looking at potentially having other people released in

connection to the group's activities. while the sentencing is going to go on all this week, this will be a long-term story about undoing all the harm that was done here. >> antonia hilton, thank you so much. appreciate it. up next, hundreds of people take to the streets in cuba in protests. we will tell you what they are demanding. plus, how gangs in haiti are ramping up the violence in the suburbs. you are watching "josé diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. buy one get one free at visionworks. see the difference. (psst! psst!) ahhh! with flonase, allergies don't have to be scary. spray flonase sensimist daily for non-drowsy long lasting relief in a scent free, gentle mist. flonase all good. also, try our allergy headache and nighttime pills. the long-lasting scent of gain flings made it smell like dave was in his happy place... ...the massage chair at the mall.

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43 past the hour today. in haiti, violence continues to spread after at least ten people were killed yesterday in an afluent suburb. the u.n. says 1.4 million haitians are on the verge of famine. we turn to cuba, just 90 miles away from the u.s., where there have been new protests since hundreds took to the streets on sunday. videos show people chanting "power," "food," and "home life," and a call for freedom. joining us, a professor.

thank you for being with us this morning. why are these protests happening? >> cubans have been protesting since the communist regime took power in 1959 until now. what most recently happened is that since july 11th, 2021, cubans have taken to the streets in mass publicly, and they have continued, and we have seen the biggest expressions of this this weekend, although there has been activism and protests having to do with their hunger. their hunger is pushing them to continue to challenge their government system, the regime system that state controls and also rations electricity and food. cubans are uncomfortable because of the electric power outages

from the state is making -- is going to make their lives unbearable this summer. we are seeing expressions of that in santiago and in the central part of cuba. >> millions of cubans have left since castro took power, and many same regime is still in power today, between october of 2022 and january of 2024, more than half a million people have left cuba and come to the united states. why is that? >> cubans are seeking freedom to work and to think, and freedom to have their racial identities and ethnic identities be understood, their culture. since fidel castro took power and the castro brothers have taken power, cubans could not

practice their own religion, and they have been stripped of their history and their leaders, and who cubans don't even know because of the communist doctrine that has been pushed down on cuba for decades, and this is what a they want when they come to the united states and in europe, they want to be able to think and be fully human. >> is there a racial component to the cuban reality? >> absolutely. afro-cubans are the ones that receive the least amount of remissions, and they are the ones in prison at higher rates, and drawing parallels to other countries that are -- cuba is a post democratic country, and cuba had democracy from 1902 to

1959. they know what democracy is and knows what that feels like, and they know what it's like to have civil rights, and that's what their ancestors have and that's what they want right now. it's a civil rights issue. this is a civil rights issue, josé. this is literally, probably, close to what the civil rights movement was in 1950s and early '60s, this is what we are experiencing in cuba right now. >> is there any future, do you think, for that opposition or movement in a country where that regime is well-versed at destroying opposition? >> absolutely. we can look at germany. we can look at the post communist countries. we can look and remember what happened before the fall of the berlin wall, and the protests are going to take more than a month to kind of surface and

actually change. it may take several months. it may take a year or more than a year, but protests and internal pressure does matter, and economic sanctions do matter, and we know this from the post communist model in europe. >> thank you so much. appreciate your time. >> thank you, josé, for your time. up next a new report showing what is behind the rise in abortions in the u.s. in the year since the supreme court overturned roe v. wade. you're watching "josé diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. a. fast relief of your worst allergy symptoms, like nasal congestion. (♪♪) we come from a long line of cowboys. (♪♪) when i see all of us out here on this ranch, i see how far our legacy can go. (♪♪) you know what's brilliant? boring.

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abortions, up from 53% in 2020, reflecting a rise. joining us now, berkeley lovelace junior and dr. patel, a former obama white house policy director. she's an msnbc medical contributor. berkeley, what do the researchers say is behind this increase? >> a big part of the increase is a push from clinics and abortion groups to help out people in states who can't get the help they need. the report found the biggest increases were actually in states bordering states with complete abortion bans. that includes new mexico and illinois. that being said, there's also -- they reported that medication abortion is the most common method in the united states for ending an early pregnancy in the united states. experts weren't stunned to see that upswing. >> dr. patel, what's your takeaway from this data? >> it's not surprising. it might seem counterintuitive

that we see numbers going up. but as berkeley pointed out, when you look at the state where you are seeing double digit increases, it's the surrounding states where we know, states like maryland where i am, we're increasing access. that includes to both surgical procedures as well as medication abortions which we know in 2020, jose, were 53% of all abortions. that's about 63% now. we now have definitive data to show that's done through telehealth access. is it safe to get this through telehealth? yes, it is. that's what unpacks the increasing numbers. >> berkeley, the next week, i think the supreme court will hold oral arguments on access to the abortion pill. >> it's expected to have a huge consequence if they limit access. medication abortion is the most common method for ending an

early pregnancy. they are concerned about marginalized groups, people with disabilities who may not be able to travel. there's concerns about whether this can create a black market for the drug, which comes with its own safety concerns. jose, there's concerns about the authority for the fda, which approved this drug back in 2000. >> dr. patel, depending on what the court says, how will this have an impact on parents, for example? >> it's an overwhelming impact. so much so that it's hard to imagine. this is not just the 14 states where we almost have a complete and total ban on abortion. this is really calling into question the food and drug administration's objective evaluation of safety and efficacy. if you call that into question, then we no longer have that as an option. the landscape changes, at 63% of abortions right now that are safe and effective through medication, when that becomes an option that's no longer available, there are -- there's a second drug. there will be medication options. completely suboptimal.

putting more women at risk. let me be clear, higher mortality, more death and more complications all because of lack of access to health care. >> dr. patel, the issue you bring up is so important. it's going to have widespread repercussions not only on mifepristone but on the ability of the fda to determine what is and what is not safe. talk to us about that. it's important that we realize that this is a very important decision. >> it is. i will say this, for decades the fda has put into place kind of additional safety measures to capture data around mifepristone. it's that data that led to changes allowing for me to prescribe this with a telehealth service. this isn't just one day the fda woke up in 2000 and said this is safe. this deemed it safe and

effective from clinical trials and added in multiple levels. for a court of any kind to call into question the agency's decision, that's not an opinion. that's actually a decision -- an opinion made by science. honestly, there's -- then i would say to you that the court should call into question some of the science around cancer drugs, drugs i use to treat hypertension, because that's exactly what we are calling into question, the very common standards that we have been not only used to but we have expected of the fda under many administrations. to be clear, they are making this sound like it's the biden administration. it's not. this has been both through democrats and republicans. it's about safety, efficacy and the bottom line, it's about women's health care. >> dr. patel, online sales have gun for an over-the-counter birth control pill. what do you see is that impact? >> i can go on amazon.com. i tried this before my segment.

yes, i can order a specific type of birth control pill called the opill. i recommend women have a conversation so a woman gets what she needs. >>patel, thank you for being with us. before we go, good news. a long island school cafeteria monitor is being hailed as a hero for saving a second grader choking on pizza. >> grateful she saved my life. >> you are welcome. >> she has been a lunch aide for almost six years there. on the 8th of march, she says the 7-year-old began staring at her. she rushed over to ask if he was okay. she knew he was choking when he couldn't respond.

what did she do? she dislodged the pizza. his parents met her and say they are beyond thankful. >> she did exactly what she would have done if it was her children. our family is eternally grateful. >> i'm a mom. my natural instincts kicked in. i did what i did. i saw a child needing help and i helped him. >> natural instincts of a mom. it was first time she had done it. grayson told nbc news new york that he is going to skip pizza at lunch from now on or at least for a bit. that wraps up the hour for me. i'm jose diaz-balart. you can reach me on social media. you can watch clips from our show on youtube. thank you for the privilege of your time. andrea mitchell picks up